The issue of energy security and the need for sustainable energy sources have determined a new interest to the production of electricity via nuclear energy, with many countries building or planning to build new nuclear reactors.

At the same time, the first generations nuclear power plants are coming to the end of their life and therefore the effective decommissioning of those plants and management of the nuclear waste produced during the operations and the decommissioning are crucial for the public acceptance of nuclear power as a sustainable technology.

The development of a safe and secure nuclear programme requires a precise legal and regulatory framework, but also the sharing of best practices and learning from the past.
From the technical point of view, it is important to analyse each production route of radioactive waste, e.g. research, medical applications and industrial activities such as mining and milling of radioactive ores, as well as the generation of nuclear energy, in order to manage it safely for the workers, the public and the environment. This includes an effective characterization of the waste, proper environmental monitoring and the applications of sound principles of waste management, including policy, regulatory issues, human resources management and aspects of stakeholders' engagement.

The school will bring together for the second year international experts in waste management and nuclear decommissioning, offering the participants the opportunity to learn from the experience of various European countries and to discuss directly with the experts and the other delegates; the course will also include a visit to the facilities of the Decommissioning and Waste Management Programme of the European Commission's Joint Research Centre in Ispra (VA), where the delegates will be able to explore in more depth the issues of nuclear waste characterization and nuclear decommissioning.
The Summer School venue is the prestigious Napoleonic Hall of the University of Milan, and for the third day it will be at the facilities of the leading European Joint Research Centre in Ispra.
The Napoleonic Hall of the University of Milan is in the city centre close to the Duomo area, in Via S. Antonio, 12.
It’s possible to get there:
By metro: M1 (Stop: Duomo) - M3 (Stop: Missori)
By bus: N.54 (Stop: Larga-Verziere)
By tram: N.12 (Stop: Larga-Verziere) - N.15 (Stop: Larga-Fontana-Albricci) - N.27 (Stop: Larga-Albricci)
From Malpensa Airport: Malpensa Express Train has departures every 30 min and it takes 40 min to get to Cadorna Train Station (Metro: M1 - M2) close to the city centre in the “Castello Sforzesco” area.
From Linate Airport (closer to Milan centre): Shuttles leave every 30
min to Centrale Train Station (M2 -M3) and Bus N.73 leaves every 10 min to city centre, close to “Duomo” area (Piazza San Babila - M1).